Past members of the Fox Club include Bill Gates and T.S. Eliot

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An exclusive and historic Harvard University club has returned to its all-male roots after revoking the membership of its nine "provisional" female members, according to university newspaper The Crimson.

As NBC News reported, Harvard had made new rules for campus groups, saying that a member of an unrecognized single-gender group could not hold a leadership position in a recognized campus group.

The Fox Club, whose members have included Bill Gates and T.S. Eliot, had given the women "provisional" status in the face of the looming sanctions. But messages obtained by The Crimson show the women's membership was revoked.

The women had received membership in October 2015, and some male members became "provisional" members as well to stand "in solidarity with the women," a former graduate board president told NBC.